Applications for 2024 summer internships are now open! See below for more information and key dates
OpenDP is a community effort to build trustworthy, open-source software tools for statistical analysis of sensitive private data. OpenDP will offer the rigorous protections of differential privacy for individuals who may be represented in confidential data and statistically valid methods of analysis for researchers who study the data.
OpenDP interns may be undergraduate, post-bacc, or graduate students. The dates of the Summer 2024 program are June 3rd, 2024 - August 9th, 2024. It is preferred that students join full time and in person for the full 10-week program, but there are also options for part-time, remote, and/or term-time work. There are a limited number of paid internship positions, so students who can apply for their own summer research funding are encouraged to do so and indicate it in their application.
Types of projects available in the program in the past include:
- Writing mathematical proofs of the privacy properties of the OpenDP library. (Experience with rigorous mathematics and programming required; experience with differential privacy preferred.)
- Prototyping or implementing differentially private algorithms or data transformations to add to the OpenDP library. (Skills for programming in Python or Rust required; experience with differential privacy preferred.
- Implementing and experimenting with timing attacks on differentially private systems, and potentially implementing defenses in OpenDP. (Systems programming skills required; experience with differential privacy preferred.)
- Working with an OpenDP use-case partner on how to apply the OpenDP software to their data. (Experience with applied statistics required; experience with differential privacy and relevant application domain preferred.)
- Producing documentation, tutorials, and other OpenDP communication materials. (Technical writing skills required; experience with differential privacy preferred.)
- Implementing and testing visualizations of differentially private statistics and the uncertainty associated with them. (Experience with applied statistics required; experience with differential privacy and designing user interfaces preferred.)
- Developing and running contests or other activities with the OpenDP Community.
- Marketing and communication activities supporting OpenDP Community initiatives that can include general communication strategies, video production/editing, social media and website management, and content writing.
Applicants will also be considered for internships in the broader Privacy Tools Project. Some past OpenDP internships have led to published research papers or senior theses; interns who are interested in a research-oriented internships should indicate that on their application, and we will try to develop a project with a research component.
Applicants should send a CV/Resume, transcript, and 2-3 references' contact information to Privacytools-info@seas.harvard.edu. Those undergraduates interested in summer internships should also apply to the SEAS REU site.
Summer Intern Application Dates and Notifications
- Friday, January 19, 2024 - Early Application Deadline
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Friday, February 16, 2024
- Decisions sent for the applications received by January 19, 2024
- Rolling application deadline (if space permits)
- Friday, March 15, 2024 - Rolling application decisions sent (if space permits)